Cornell may be viewed as a top feeder school for aspiring Wall Street undergraduates, but on Friday, some students contemplated a life of social justice and labor organizing as part of the eighth annual School of Industrial and Labor Relations “Labor Roundtable.”

More than 125 Cornell students participated –– the largest recorded turnout in the event’s eight years –– according to Casey Sweeney ’13, president of Cornell Organization for Labor Action and one of the main organizers of the event. 

“I’m really happy with the turnout — it says that students are coming out to an event like this, it’s unique on campus. Students are increasingly joining the labor movement,” Sweeney said.

Held in Statler Ballroom, the ILR Roundtable allowed students to exchange questions with 17 prominent labor leaders and organizers about possible careers in the labor movement.

“The event serves to educate students about opportunities in labor organizing and current issues in the labor movement,” said Prof. Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research. 

One activist present, Jeannette Huezo, spoke about her work in the labor movement after fleeing El Salvador due to her politically-controversial pro-union activities.

“For me, [the ILR Roundtable] brings me a lot of hope. Not often do you get a lot of youth to think about economic or social justice,” Huezo said.

During the ILR Roundtable, students met with individual labor leaders in 20-minute sessions and discussed potential career opportunities.

“Each table had different questions with different people — some asked about working conditions, political issues or personal experiences. There was a very wide and deep survey of the issues,” said Alan Brown ’73, assistant general counsel for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

The event helped students consider entering the labor career field. 

“Cornell has the largest number of students going into the labor movement, [with] 10 to 40 graduates each year that I know of …” Bronfenbrenner stated.

Yet in spite of the relative popularity of careers within the labor movement at Cornell, it still pales in comparison to students that opt for jobs in business and others in the private sector.

According to a Cornell Career Services report, 20.2 percent of Cornell graduates from the Class of 2010 opted for the public sector with only 1.2 percent in labor organizing. By comparison, 21.3 percent entered the financial services industry.

The recruiting period for labor unions compounds employment efforts. 

“Unions can’t forecast their hiring like Corporate America,” said Marcia Harding, assistant director of ILR Career Services. “They don’t really start recruiting until April or May, which is hard for seniors.”

The impetus for the ILR Roundtable came from an initial lack of pro-labor programming, according to Bronfenbrenner.

Bronfenbrenner said that there only used to be an “Executive Roundtable,” which was an event that focused on the management side of labor.

“[The ILR Roundtable] came about through a group of students trying to get more labor programs in ILR. They wanted to have more labor classes in the school — to get more attention … for students to be more involved in the labor movement,” she said.

Throughout the event, student and faculty organizers stressed that there are many career opportunities working for labor unions.

“There’s a lot of renewed interest in the labor movement as a future career,” said Alex Bores ’13, the president of Cornell Students Against Sweatshops.

“We want students to learn that there are jobs in the labor movement,” Bronfenbrenner said. “Most undergraduates come in and are unaware of that ... through [the ILR Roundtable] many students who’ve wanted jobs in the labor movement have gotten it.”

Many speakers at the Roundtable were ILR alumni, and some acknowledged their experiences at the Cornell.

“Going to the ILR school opened up the door for me. I think that the school and the course syllabus allowed me to think about work in a more systematic and thoughtful way. Most people just think about the workforce in an anecdotal way,” Brown said.

Ari Prescott ’14 mentioned how the ILR Roundtable made him reconsider his career options. 

“It was really inspirational to see how labor leaders continue today to fight for working people,” Prescott said. “It opened my eyes and I now see that an ILR education could be continued in a labor career.”